Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 19,184 Shares of Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Bank of America Co. (NYSE:BAC) by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 309,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 19,184 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of America were worth $12,291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of America by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of America by 839.0% during the second quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America in the second quarter worth $30,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Bank of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BAC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank of America from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of America from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Piper Sandler Companies raised shares of Bank of America from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $37.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Bank of America from $39.50 to $40.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Bank of America from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.07.

Bank of America Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Bank of America stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.77. The stock had a trading volume of 45,616,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 39,208,762. The firm has a market cap of $311.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.09. Bank of America Co. has a 12-month low of $24.96 and a 12-month high of $44.44.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $25.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.22 billion. Bank of America had a net margin of 13.28% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of America Co. will post 3.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This is a positive change from Bank of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Bank of America’s payout ratio is currently 35.99%.

Bank of America declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of America

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total transaction of $559,278,840.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,020,161,313 shares in the company, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Lindsay D. Hans sold 10,901 shares of Bank of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.91, for a total transaction of $402,355.91. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,577.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold 12,690,693 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.07, for a total value of $559,278,840.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,020,161,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,958,509,063.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 66,768,513 shares of company stock worth $2,807,216,504. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bank of America Company Profile

Bank of America Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides banking and financial products and services for individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, institutional investors, large corporations, and governments worldwide. It operates in four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management (GWIM), Global Banking, and Global Markets.